my girlfriend is going through a compensation battle with lawyers for when she was in a car crash which crashed into a tree with a drunk driver in which she broke her back.
Docs said she wouldnt walk again but she has made a very good recovery and can walk! However all is not healed and still has back pain quite often.

The lawyers are basing their amount on a docs report which i imagine shows that she's made a pretty good recovery, being told she cant walk to begin with but being able to again!

so basically trying to say is she is going to have long term back problems but has made a decent recovery and is being offered (imo) a crap compensation amount.

could i ask what other people (especially lawyers) think is a reasonable amount for this kind of thing?

My brother in law got £150k for being knocked off bike and run over. He had a broken pelvis, punctured lungs, fractured skull. He still has more nuts and bolts in him than my bike.
It's all about the long term affects and the difference between what you can do and what you used to do. This happened about 15 years ago. Google Lord Wolf compensation may help.

The lawyers are basing their amount on a docs report

Sounds about right.

is being offered (imo) a crap compensation amount.

Why "crap"? Get a second opinion (not one off of here) – any proper evaluation of the claim will involve a thorough review of the Doctor's report.

BTW I am a litigation lawyer and I haven't a clue what your claim is worth.

ISTR some case law about being in the car with the drunk driver. It's not clear from your description, but be aware if she was in there, it may affect the amount of compo. You need to get a 2nd opinion if you're not sure on the amount.

Good on her for getting back on her feet!

A quick gooles found http://www.youclaim.co.uk/YouClaim_Compensation_Calculator.asp which indicates some tens of thousands for a severe back injury.

Stuff like this is all individual tho – Will she be left with a permanent deficit? Will she have continual pain? Will it affect her future earning power?

I know someone who was injured at work – serious back injury that left her with pain and unable to work as a nurse because of it – awarded £100 000 15 yrs ago

It depends – but if all she will be left with is future pain but will not affect her ability to work or enjoy life then tens of thousands

I don't really have a lot to base this on tho so don't attach much importance to my view

Was she in the car with the drunk driver? Can't really tell from what you have said but if so I would expect that to reduce anything she had coming on the basis that she in some way accepted the risk when she accepted the lift? Harsh but if I was an insurance firm I would be looking for reasons not to pay out I guess.
Glad that this is the problem you are stuck with though, could have been much worse by the sounds of it.